Lyle Daly is a personal finance writer who specializes in credit cards, travel rewards programs, and banking. He writes for The Ascent and The Motley Fool, and his work has appeared in USA Today and Yahoo! Finance. He was born in California but currently lives as a digital nomad with a home base in Colombia.
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When you rent a car, it's smart to have insurance in case anything goes wrong. You could buy this from the rental agency, but you'll need to pay extra. With the right Citi card, you could get rental car insurance as a complimentary perk.
Citi got rid of purchase and travel protections on many of its cards in 2019, but there are a few exceptions. In this guide, we'll go over how Citi card auto rental insurance works and the cards that have it.
Here are the Citi credit cards that offer rental car insurance:
As of Aug. 06, 2024
Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
= Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair
= Poor
Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
= Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair
= Poor
Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
= Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair
= Poor
On Citi's Secure Website .
On Citi's Secure Website .
Credit Rating Requirement: Circle with letter I in it.
Falling within this credit range does not guarantee approval by the issuer. An application must be submitted to the issuer for a potential approval decision. There are different types of credit scores and creditors use a variety of credit scores to make lending decisions.
Credit Rating Requirement: Circle with letter I in it.
Falling within this credit range does not guarantee approval by the issuer. An application must be submitted to the issuer for a potential approval decision. There are different types of credit scores and creditors use a variety of credit scores to make lending decisions.
Credit Rating Requirement: Circle with letter I in it.
Falling within this credit range does not guarantee approval by the issuer. An application must be submitted to the issuer for a potential approval decision. There are different types of credit scores and creditors use a variety of credit scores to make lending decisions.
Welcome Offer: Circle with letter I in it.
Earn 70,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening, redeemable for $700 in gift cards or travel rewards at thankyou.com.
70,000 ThankYou® Points
Welcome Offer:
Welcome Offer: Circle with letter I in it.
Earn 70,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $7,000 within the first 3 months of account opening.
70,000 bonus miles
Rewards Program: Circle with letter I in it.
10x on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked through CitiTravel.com. Earn 3 Points per $1 spent on Air Travel and Other Hotel Purchases. Earn 3 Points per $1 spent on Restaurants. Earn 3 Points per $1 spent on Supermarkets. Earn 3 Points per $1 spent on Gas and EV Charging Stations. Earn 1 Point per $1 spent on All Other Purchases.
Rewards Program: Circle with letter I in it.
4% back on gas and EV charging ($7,000 annual spending cap), 3% back on restaurants and travel, 2% back on Costco purchases, 1% back on other purchases
Rewards Program: Circle with letter I in it.
Earn 4x miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases. Earn 10x miles for every $1 spent on eligible hotels booked through aa.com/hotels and on eligible car rentals booked through aa.com/cars. Earn 1x miles for each $1 spent on other purchases.
Intro APR:
Balance Transfers: N/A
Intro APR:
Balance Transfers: N/A
Intro APR:
Balance Transfers: N/A
Regular APR:
21.24% - 29.24% (Variable)
Regular APR:
Regular APR:
21.24% - 29.99% (Variable)
Annual Fee:
Annual Fee:
$0 for Costco members
Annual Fee:
Highlights:
Highlights:
Highlights:
On Citi's Secure Website .
On Citi's Secure Website .
Each card has its own auto rental insurance policy. These policies work the same way, but there are some differences in the terms. These differences are included below, but if you want to check the exact terms for your Citi card, you can find this information in its guide to benefits.
Auto rental insurance with Citi covers damage or theft to the rental vehicle. It also covers reasonable loss of use charges imposed by the rental company for the time the vehicle is out of service, and towing charges to the nearest collision repair facility.
To be eligible for coverage, you must pay for the full cost of the car rental with your Citi card. You also need to decline the insurance company's optional collision/damage insurance.
The insurance lasts for the length of the car rental agreement, up to a maximum rental period of 31 days. Longer rentals aren't eligible for Citi car rental coverage.
The coverage maximums depend on which of those credit cards you have. Here are the maximums with each Citi card that offers this benefit:
Citi rental car insurance won't cover you in any of the following situations:
This insurance only covers damage and theft to the rental car. It's not an all-inclusive policy or liability insurance. If you or another party is injured in an accident, that isn't covered. It also won't cover damages to other cars or property.
For car rentals in the United States, Citi's rental insurance is secondary coverage. Before you can use it, you need to file a claim with any other insurance you have, such as your regular auto insurance. Most credit card rental insurance policies offer secondary coverage, although a select few travel rewards cards offer primary coverage.
If your primary insurance doesn't cover everything, then you can file a claim with Citi. You can also file a claim with Citi for your insurance deductible on your primary insurance policy.
It's different for car rentals outside the United States. When you rent a car abroad, Citi auto rental insurance acts as primary coverage. You can file a claim with that policy first, even if you have another insurance policy.
Here's how to file an auto rental insurance claim with Citi, depending on which card you have:
You'll receive information on what documentation you need to provide to support your claim. Make sure to return all requested documents within 180 days of the incident. Once your claim is processed, you'll receive a notice of the decision.
Pro tip: Get as much evidence as you can to support your claim. For damage claims, Citi recommends taking pictures of the damage. It's also a good idea to take pictures of a rental car before you use it, so you'll have before and after photos in the event of any damage. If the police were called, ask for a police report and submit that with your claim, as well.
On social media, multiple Citi cardholders have reported positive experiences with its auto rental insurance, saying that their claims were approved. One cardholder mentioned that the claim took awhile to process, but they received full compensation for a large amount of damages.
I didn't find any negative experiences related to filing an auto rental insurance claim with Citi. A cardholder recommended submitting as much documentation as possible, including the rental invoice and a police report if you have it.
We recommend comparing options to ensure the card you're selecting is the best fit for you. To make your search easier, here's a short list of standout credit cards.
